More people are investing in mutual funds

In 1996, the number of Norwegians investing in unit trusts (mutual funds) was up by 119,000 compared to the year before. Assessed value of the units purchased was NOK 16.8 billion, NOK 7.8 billion more than in 1995. At the same time, fewer employees are paying for their own pension insurance.

The average assessed value of units held by unit trust investors was NOK 31,200 in 1996.

Although the number of shareholders has been steadily increasing in recent years thanks in part to strong interest in investment in units trusts that allow tax credits, the distribution of share assets is still highly uneven. In 1996, for instance, the five per cent of persons with the highest gross income (171,000 persons) owned nearly 60 per cent of all Norwegian shares registered with the Norwegian Registry of Securities (VPS). The distribution of shares outside the VPS was even more lopsided. Here, the five per cent of persons with the highest gross income owned fully 71 per cent of all shares. In 1996, 751,000 persons owned shares in Norwegian companies. This was 153,000 more than in 1993.

New Statistics

Tax return account statistics, 1996.
Statistics are published annually in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics and Official Statistics of Norway (Regional Statistics). For more information, contact: Ingunn Helde, tel. +47 62 88 51 83, e-mail: ingunn.helde@ssb.no.helde, or Grethe Sparby, tel. +47 62 88 52 41, e-mail: grethe.sparby@ssb.no.sparby.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 12, 1998